The awards

Time for a wee bit of clarification – the junior high reunion wasn’t the entire class, just some fellas I played basketball and football with back in the day. One of our teachers even attended. We stayed up into the wee hours swapping stories about the really stupid stuff we did. Glory days as Bruce Springsteen would say and outrageously fun. I highly recommend it.

But back to the more serious business of the 49ers football. The Pro Football Hall of Fame announced their candidates for election this year and they include three 49ers: Jerry Rice, Roger Craig and Charles Haley. Since I’ve covered the team since 1988, I saw all of them play and frankly, I think all of them deserve election. Rice, as the unquestioned greatest receiver of all time with insane statistics, three Super Bowls, and a Super Bowl MVP in his resume will waltz into the hall. A harder case will have to be made for Craig and Haley.

Craig was the quintessential running back in the Bill Walsh offense and how many other players have compiled 1,000 yard rushing and receiving seasons? Haley almost single-handily switched the balance of power when the 49ers traded him to Dallas. The 49ers were coming off two Super Bowls when he was dealt, and the Cowboys instantly became the best team in the league with Haley on their side. Your thoughts?

Justin Smith is the MVP.

And speaking of thoughts, here are our annual awards. Feel free to challenge them and come up with your own.

MVP: With defense carrying this team, our choice had to be a defensive player and so Justin Smith is the man. We’ll mail him an Elvis Presley rubber chicken chew toy I saw this morning in the pet store. Smith’s stats don’t scream, “MVP!” but his play sure did. He hustled, he kept blockers off of the linebackers and hit the quarterback over 40 times. Smith gained weight over the last off-season to fulfill the role of a 3-4 defensive end but he didn’t change his uniform size, hence his jersey was constantly hiking up towards his chest. The sight of his flashing midriff is probably a true nightmare for those offensive saddled with trying to block him. Smith also took the prize as possibly the most unselfish player. When he signed, Smith was supposed to play anywhere from nose tackle to standup, rush linebacker. Instead he settled in at end where he occupied blockers while the inside linebackers collected tackles and outside backers bagged sacks. He took that role seriously, and at mid-season he stunned Manny Lawson by sitting him down and discussing how he could free Lawson up to get more sacks. Who does that? I recall criticizing the 49ers last year for lavishing $20 million in guaranteed cake to Smith, who couldn’t notch double-digit sack totals. Many on this blog said Smith was worth the money and that’s turned out to be very true. The guy makes this defense go.

MOST SURPRISING PLAYER: Cornerbacks in their sixth seasons with big contracts and coming off major knee surgeries are supposed to get cut in training camp. Shawntae Spencer not only made the team, he won the starting job at right corner and then played splendidly. Spencer is also another unselfish player, willing to anonymously smothered his receiver and force the quarterback to throw to the opposite side. “Some Pro Bowl cornerbacks will have seven picks, but then they give up 12 touchdowns,” Spencer said. “To me, that’s a terrible year. If I don’t have an interception and I don’t give up a touchdown – that’s a great year.”

MOST DISAPPOINTING PLAYER: Nate Clements got some votes here, but this dubious prize goes to wide receiver Brandon Jones. Signed for five years $16.5 million, with $5.4 million in guaranteed cash, Jones looked like a player in OTA’s and training and then he broke his shoulder diving for a pass. He missed September and then became a completely forgotten man. It’s not all his fault. Jones was signed because of speed and big-play ability, but coaches were never excited about him. Jones is an example of a player signed to a team the coaches didn’t necessarily want. That has to change.

MOST IMPROVED: Step right up Dashon Goldson. The guy went from a befuddled man in the middle to a terrorizer that opposing teams now have to account for.

LEAST IMPROVED: Kentwan Balmer – the former first-round pick will get another year to avert the dreaded “bust” label.

OFFENSIVE MVP: It would be so easy to pick Vernon Davis and he’s deserving. But I just can’t get those 11 drops and eight penalties out of my dome. So I’m going with Frank Gore. Gore says this year was even better than 2006 when he romped for 1,675 yards. Gore adjusted well to the mid-season switch in offensive emphasis and despite missing three games, STILL gained 1,000 yards. While other runners might be more dynamic, Gore is such a complete package with his rushing, receiving and blocking abilities. It makes him a fit for any system.